Trial set in Bainbridge Township Fire Co. dispute

A trial date has been set for March 5 in Bainbridge Township's lawsuit against a private fire company. The Board of Trustees filed suit Oct. 29 against the Bainbridge Township Fire Co., a nonprofit corporation that used to handle the township's fire services until the township took over the department July 1. According to the suit filed by Geauga County Prosecutor James R. Flaiz: Bainbridge Township and the fire company had a three-year contract for fire services that was supposed to expire June 30, 2015. However, the fire company terminated the contract June 30 of this year because of “certain controversies ... regarding the ownership of assets, including cash, equipment and other personal property.” The fire company failed to return money and personal property purchased for fire protection services after it ended its relationship with the township. “Defendant Fire Co. has been unjustly enriched by keeping the funds and personal property,” Flaiz stated in the suit. Both sides recently agreed to retain an accountant to audit the fire company's $230,000 in six bank accounts. “(The accountant) in the process of doing that as we speak,” said fire company attorney Thomas Hanculak. “This is not a fire department. This is an individual contractor. The question is, how does that money go back? I just want both sides to be happy because we're dealing with taxpayers.” The township's lawyer has accused the fire company of wrongfully converting the township's public tax dollars for the company's own use. The township is asking for more than $50,000 in damages, and has requested the fire company not be allowed to spend the money or sell the property until the matter is resolved. Hanculak said he is hoping a trial won't be necessary in the end. “Nobody wants to fight about this,” he said. “There's good people on both sides.” The case has been assigned to Geauga County Common Pleas Judge Forrest W. Burt.Editor's note: The story was edited at 10:15 a.m. March 27, 2014, to correct who filed the lawsuit and properly attribute statements from the suit.